- Experts uncovered a second time capsule underneath a Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond.
- Conservators found books, bullets, and more.
- The statue was one of three Richmond statues removed over the summer for its racist legacy.
A considerable amount of artifacts from the Confederacy were found inside of a 36-pound copper box that was buried inside the pedestal of a now-removed General Robert E. Lee statue, according to Richmond news outlet WRIC.
The box, placed in the pedestal in 1887, was a coveted piece of history that historical documents had previously pointed to, according to The Associated Press.
It was discovered on Monday, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced on Twitter. It was the second time capsule experts found beneath the monument, Insider previously reported.
Conservators revealed coins, bullets, books, and other items in the unveiling of the box at a two-hour live-streamed event in the Virginia Department of Historic Resources lab in Richmond, according to The Washington Post.
"We honestly aren't sure what all we have yet," Kate Ridgway, state archaeological conservator, said at the event.
A delineation of the findings will be released in the future, but it has not been decided who the artifacts will go to, conservators said.
Experts questioned whether they'd find a much-anticipated rare photo of Abraham Lincoln in his coffin, but instead, they found pages from an 1865 issue of "Harper's Weekly" which pictured a person grieving over Lincoln's casket, NPR reported.
Because the copper box did not have a date detailing when it should have been opened, Ridgway said that it could not officially be referred to as a "time capsule."
"A cornerstone box is probably more accurate," she said.
The statue was one of three Richmond statues removed in July after activists claimed that it had a racist legacy, CBS News reported.